For My Mommies to be

I was reading a blog the other day and the mommy had the neatest post. She posted her favorite baby items and the items that she could have done without. I have several people who read my blog that are preggers. Now, keep in mind that I am not an expert mom by any means and every child is different. Just because things didn't work out for Brayden doesn't mean that they won't work out for your child. So here is our list:

Baby Items we LOVE or use a lot:

• Swing-This was and still is our lifesaver. Brayden loves his swing. He will sit in it for hours whether he is asleep or awake. We bought the lamb swing so it can be for a girl or boy. It is very soft! One tip I would say is to try to find one that plug into the wall. Ours drains the batteries.
• Batteries- You need to stay well stocked in all battery sizes. Trust me on this one. If you don't stock up, you will be thinking of me while you are going to Wal-Mart at midnight for batteries.
  
• Gowns- I know....I know...I had a boy, but all babies can wear gowns. These were lifesavers. The last thing you want to do in the middle of the night is to unsnap and snap a million buttons on your baby. Gowns were so much easier.
• Sanitizer pumps- We had one at his changing table, one in his diaper bag, and one in the living room. When you have a newborn, you have to be very careful about germs. Sometimes you don't have time to go wash your hands so this was very nice. Also, for all of your guests that want to hold your precious angel...it is easier to just say, "here let me pump a few squirts of this sanitizer before you hold him or her"....rather than saying, "can you go wash your hands."
  
• Diapers and wipes- When you have a newborn, you can't have enough diapers and wipes. When Brayden was first born only Pampers worked on him. He was so small and had no hiney so all of the others leaked. Now, we can use any kind...my preference whatever brand I have a coupon for. TIP: If you have any friends that don't have babies, ask them to save any coupons for formula, wipes, diapers, etc. They don't need them and will probably throw them away.
• Bottles- Of course you know you will need bottles, but I wanted to put this one for a tip. We chose Dr. Brown's bottles. Justin and I had no clue and when you go to Babies R Us and see the bottle aisle, it can be quite overwhelming. We just chose Dr. Brown's because we had heard of the brand. Now don't get me wrong, Dr. Brown's bottles are great and they get the job done. My issue with them is all of the attachments. With one bottle you have five different items to clean and sanitize and even more if you decide to use the lid. So let's put this into perspective during a normal newborn day: 5 items x let's say 8 feedings= 40 things to clean. Not to mention that if you are on the every two hour feeding...you will be feeding 12 times a day. With our next child, I am going with the Playtex drop-ins. They are cheaper and way easier to clean.
• Boppy Pillow-Justin loved this more than I did. It is nice to have so your arms do not get tired. I didn't use it when I breastfed, because it seemed to get more in the way than anything. I liked it just for holding Brayden and for company. Some people who visit you have never held a baby in their life. If this is the case, always offer the Boppy. It makes them more comfortable and you more comfortable.
  
• Nipple Shield-I know that is kind of graphic, but it was a lifesaver for me. I was very adamant about breastfeeding my baby. Brayden had other ideas about my boob. He refused to latch on. By the time I left the hospital, I was in tears about the whole breastfeeding thing. (BTW: if it doesn't work in the hospital, wait until you get home where you are more comfortable. I had too many nurses shoving my baby's head to my boob and making him cry.) One day, I broke down and text my friend Danae. She had the same issue so she bought a nipple shield and it worked. It took Brayden about two and half weeks on the nipple shield, and then finally he started feeding without the shield. I was thrilled! I occasionally brought the shield out when my nipples got sore. It helps give them relief so they can heal.
  
• Burp Cloths-You can't have enough of these bad boys. Brayden spit up all of the time. We constantly were going through several burp cloths a day.
  
• Sensitive skin babies-Brayden has eczema so we have to be very careful with what we put on his skin. We wash his clothes in Dreft (save coupons for this b/c it is expensive). We use Aveeno to wash his body and hair. Aquaphor Baby lotion to keep his dry skin moist (this stuff is very thick and greasy so make sure to buy the tub and not the tube. The tube is too hard to squeeze.). For any eczema break outs, we have a prescription but the over the counter cortisone cream with aloe works better than the prescription stuff.

Baby Items that just didn't work for us:

• Diaper Genie-Let me first start by saying that I know some people love Diaper Genies...this is fine! I am not one of those people. No matter what level it is...Elite or whatever...it stinks. We have a regular trash can in Brayden's room. If he does number 2, I throw the diaper in the outside trash. No, you don't have to do this with every diaper. Most of the time I would throw it in the kitchen trash and by the end of the day took that trash out.
  
• Bouncy Seats-I don't know why, but Brayden does not like bouncy seats. He will sit in them for a little while but not for long. He prefers a swing over a bouncy seat. Now keep in mind that I have heard of very few children that don't love their bouncy seats. Most babies love it so it may work for you.
  
• Tub seats-I am not sure if this is what you call them, but let me explain what it is and why we bought one. First, it is a mesh-like seat that you sit in your tub and wash your baby. We bought this, because our friend Heidi bought Brayden a duck tub but he can't use it until he is 6 months old. We just wanted something until he could use his duck tub (which quacks by the way...how cute). I placed him in this seat and it started sliding all over the tub. I mean it is hard enough to hold onto your little newborn especially when his seat is sliding all over. You pretty much have to bathe with one hand if you use a tub seat. I ended up going to Babies R Us and getting a baby tub. We love it! Brayden loves bath time, and I can't wait until we can use his duck tub!
  
• Tons of big blankets-We received tons of beautiful plush blankets. Don't get me wrong, I love them and we use them...but you don't need a lot of them. I say three or four would be fine. We swaddled Brayden so receiving blankets work best for that. I would use the big blankets to cover his car seat up when we were in public (b/c of germs), and now I use it to lay over him just in case his swaddle comes undone. I will probably use them more in the winter time, but not in these hot Mississippi summers.

Well, I think that is all for now. I will post more if I think of anything else. If you have any advice or anything that worked or didn't work for your baby, please post a comment about it. Enjoy!

New Beginnings and Updates

I have been MIA lately but for good reason. Most people who know me know that I work at Hinds Community College. They also know that I have to drive 45 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) to and from work every day. I have done this for two years. This has gotten old real quick plus having a child who is in daycare 45 minutes away from you isn't a good idea. With that said, I interviewed at Blue Cross Blue Shield and got the job. I will be an ELearning Specialist (in other words or for my husband that still doesn't quite know what I do...I train people and create training materials especially online based training materials). The best part about this new job...drum roll please...it is 7 to 10 minutes from my home. Wow, I am not going to know what to do with myself. I am nervous about switching from education to corporate America, but I am willing to take the risk. Education is so laid back and flexible, but as many people have told me, change is not a bad thing. My new job has a strict dress code. I have to pull the pantyhose out for this one ladies...yes, I said pantyhose. DISCLAIMER: if you see me out and about in Flowood sporting pantyhose...do realize this is not by choice.

Now onto Brayden...oh how he has grown before my eyes. It is crazy to think that a few months ago, Justin and I were trying to console our screaming baby from 6 pm to 3 am every night of the week. Now, he is so much more happy and calm. His tummy troubles are over! Thank you Lord for seeing us through those times. He is talking to himself a lot. He also sings to himself especially when he is trying to go to sleep. I did not know what he was doing until he did it at the doctor's office. The doctor said, "You must sing to him, because he is singing himself to sleep." My heart melted...he is so precious. He smiles 24/7. His head is not bobbing as much so pretty soon I am going to get his jumpy thing out (not sure what to call it) for him to jump around.

The only issues we are having with BDog (what Justin calls him) is spoon feeding. If you are a mom and you read my blog and have advice...please comment b/c I need advice big time on this one. He ate cereal from a spoon fine one day. Since that day, it has been downhill big time. He gags and cries with every bite. I am not sure why I am calling it a bite b/c every bit gets pushed out by his tongue. I mix two tablespoons of rice cereal with some of his formula. I even add baby food fruit. He still doesn't like it. My friend Kelly talked on her blog about Clark (her little boy) eating up a storm. She said he loves sweet potatoes. I tried just sweet potatoes...he gagged even more. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Am I not holding my mouth the right way? I even give him cereal in between his bottle feedings because most people say it is not good to spoon feed when babies are hungry.

The last issue...SLEEP or Lack there of again, if you have advice on this issue send it my way. Our son has the craziest sleep schedule in the world. A good night for us is when Brayden goes down around 9 or 10 and sleeps until 5 in the morning. This night is a rare occasion. Brayden never sleeps past 5. No matter if he has been up all night, our little man will be alert and happy at 5 am. This is okay until he decides that he wants to wake up every 1 or 2 hours. We have tried the cry out method (our doctor made us)...it does not work. Here was my conversation with our doctor:
Me: Dr. Edwards, Brayden is still not sleeping at night.

Dr. Joe: Really? Are you letting him cry it out?

Me: Well..you see...our child doesn't stop crying.

Dr. Joe: What do you mean he doesn't stop crying?

Me: I mean that you told me he will stop after crying for 1 hour...our son cried for two hours and never stopped. I try to look at the positive side of this doc, when he gets older he will never give up and be a very determined athlete, student, or whatever he decides to be.

Dr. Joe: Well, you have to realize crying has never harmed a child. He will live no matter how many hours he cries.

That was my answer. Well, I know crying doesn't hurt a child, but when my baby has swollen eyes from crying for two hours straight...I put my foot down. I just can't do it. I keep thinking to myself, one day he will be a sleeper, and then I read on facebook how my cousin's two year old still is not sleeping. I guess people were not lying when they say that when you have children you can say bye bye to sleep. I can see it now, Brayden will be 18 and I will still be losing sleep, which brings me to a funny/psycho mom story.

Justin and I were talking about something and all of a sudden Brayden and cell phones came to my mind. Here was the convo:

Justin: talking about something that had nothing to do with Brayden or cell phones

Me: Oh my gosh, hold that thought, honey...we have something more important to discuss. When should Brayden get a cell phone?

Justin: Not saying a word...just looking at me like I was insane and wondering why we had to discuss this while our son is only 4 months of age

Me: Well, I thought maybe when he started driving, but when he is younger he may want to go to the mall and I need to be able to contact him.

Justin: Honey, we all know that you would never let Brayden go to a mall in Jackson, MS...you will have him in a bubble.

Me: My point exactly! You see I want to buy him a cell phone with a GPS chip so I can know exactly where he is at all times soooo...if I see that he is at the mall...I can call him and tell him to get his booty back at home. So my point is that we shouldn't wait until he starts driving. I say middle school or maybe even earlier.

Justin: Poor Brayden

Me: What? I know what you are thinking...I am not going to be a psycho mom. Psycho is not the word for it...I am going to be an overly cautious mom. Oh gosh, I am going to be psycho...poor Brayden! I just don't know how to not be psycho.

Yes, you should feel bad for my child/children. I hope they don't end up hating me. Maybe I will become more relaxed and less of a worrier as I get older.

Justin, Brayden, and I are headed to Chicago the week of August 3rd. I am so excited! Justin has training so Brayden and I decided to tag along. I am nervous about the plane ride and traveling in general with a baby. I have read everything from car seats in cabs (yes they are required) to bring Playtex disposable bottles so cleaning is easier to babies ears on planes and so on. I should be an expert after this trip. I will blog about it when we get back. I have rambled enough...have a great weekend! We are off to Shubuta to visit Mimi and Paw Paw.